EASY Oven Baked Risotto

This was my first time making risotto! I’d always put it off due to the constant stirring that the traditional recipe requires. I know many people find it soothing to do all of that stirring, but it would just make me crazy. Doing the initial cooking of the arborio rice in the oven takes this dish from a tedious one and transforms it into a “I can even do this on a week night” dish!! Also did you know you can make risotto dairy free with just one substitution?

My girls actually fought over the risotto leftovers this morning, and my husband (ye olde picky one) who “doesn’t like rice” actually liked this dish! What’s better on a windy and rainy Oregon autumn night than this wonderful comfort food?

Tips for making Oven Baked Risotto Recipe

This recipe could easily be halved or even doubled. The leftovers are not quite as good as the original, but still yummy!

Risotto is extreme forgiving – use any fresh veggies or herbs you have on hand. For fresh herbs, add to the end of cooking (with the peas).

This is a great way to get a lot of broth into your family – homemade broth/stock will be best in this recipe, it’s worth it!

This recipe is naturally gluten free, and can even be made dairy free by replacing the the butter/cheese with 1/2 cup of good cultured ghee

Any kind of protein that you want to add, such as turkey, ham, chicken or shrimp, or none is fine too

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat up your stock on the stove. Take a 4 quart heavy oven safe pot (that has a lid that’s also oven safe), and measure the 2 cups of arborio rice into it.

To the arborio rice, add 5 cups of hot broth/stock, the 1 teaspoon salt, onion or shallot and garlic (if using). Stir to combine a bit, cover and put into your preheated oven.

Cook the rice for 45 minutes. Don’t open the lid to check until 40 minutes. All of the liquid on the bottom of the pot should be pretty much gone, and if you test the rice it will be soft and completely cooked through to ‘al dente’.

While the rice is cooking, grate your cheese, dice your green onions (chives would work well too), and dice up any meat that you want to use (if any), and get your peas ready.

After 45 minutes are up, take rice out of oven and put onto stove onto low heat. Add the extra cup of broth, the butter and cheese (or ghee if doing dairy / casein free) and green onions / chives.

Stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes, until the rice has a ‘creamy’ texture and is not too watery or too gummy.

Once the consistency is what you want (kind of like cooked oatmeal actually), add the peas and protein, stir well and heat for a few minutes, then serve!

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